Blue Florida Garter Snake
In palmetto scrub and in wood piles.
Blue florida garter snake. Puget sound garter snake blue stripe rare and beautiful duration. The blue striped garter snake is a non poisonous snake of the garter snakes species indigenous to the northwestern florida in america. The eastern ribbon snake thamnophis sauritus is thinner bodied has their light colored lateral stripes occupying the 3rd and 4th dorsal scale rows above the. Endemic to north and central america species in the genus thamnophis can be found from the subarctic plains of canada to costa rica the common garter snake thamnophis sirtalis is the state reptile of massachusetts the length of garter snakes varies from 46 to 137cm 18.
Adults will generally get around 25 30 inches in length from head to tail. Garter snake identification can also be a fun activity because they are not aggressive snakes and taking the time to look at one means little personal harm to the observer. Florida s snakes common gartersnake thamnophis sirtalis non venomous blotched and striped. Thamnophis sirtalis linnaeus 1766 the following will separate the two garter snakes found in florida if you are unable to distinguish between them based on the characteristics in the key below you probably can do so using the geographic location alone.
Here are some highlights. Common gartersnake color variations photos by dr. Florida blue garter snake. Their body color can range from blue prominent in florida blue garter snakes to the many shades of red visible in west coast species.
Originating from united states mainly out of florida. The scientific name of the blue striped garter snake is thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis while its common name is blue striped garter snake. The garter snake is often confused with garden snake although this is a name mistake more than anything else. The bluestripe garter snake thamnophis sirtalis similis has light blue stripes and tannish lateral fleckings along with a uniform whitish blue belly.
Garter snake is a common name for the generally harmless small to medium sized snakes belonging to the genus thamnophis. Florida snake identification key common garter snake. Comparison with other species. With proper care these snakes could live 10 years in captivity.
I ve had 2 of these beauties regularly in 2 areas of my yard this summer. I caught this blue garter snake native only to florida at my parent s house. One of the most common snakes of florida you might spot these in highly populated areas usually green or brown in colour with stripes of a pale colour running down the length of it. This snake species does not have any subspecies discovered yet.
